Thanks to a law signed by former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush in 2003, the Florida Coalition Against Domestic Violence has been the sole recipient of $31 million in state support for domestic violence—distributing money and training, and doing oversight and advocacy for the state’s 42 domestic violence shelters. But now Gov. Rick Scott, who graces the front cover of the coalition’s latest annual report, has noted that Tiffany Carr, the head of the coalition, is taking home a $316,104 annual salary before benefits, and it has marked the whole relationship between the state and the coalition for a review. Scott has asked that the law be changed so that state money does not flow through the Coalition. Carr has responded that her salary was set by the coalition board and that she is very willing to take a cut if the legislature or board requests it.

Some do not approve of the targeted scrutiny. “I’m kind of perplexed by his decision,” said State Rep. Denise Grimsley (R-Sebring), chair of Florida’s House Appropriations Committee, adding that the coalition “does an outstanding job.” She said that nobody in Scott’s office voiced concern about the coalition during the state budgeting process. On the other hand, State Sen. Mike Bennett, (R-Bradenton), who is a vocal critic of high salaries and who obtained the organization’s Form 990 and delivered it to the governor’s chief of staff, says “I was so p – – – ed off when I saw the salary Tiffany Carr was making. It’s absolutely stone-a – – insane.”

The salary, according to this article, is three times what some state agency heads make but the coalition says that they did base it on a study of the salaries of those who head comparable nonprofits. –Ruth McCambridge

Ruth is Editor in Chief of the Nonprofit Quarterly. Her background includes forty-five years of experience in nonprofits, primarily in organizations that mix grassroots community work with policy change. Beginning in the mid-1980s, Ruth spent a decade at the Boston Foundation, developing and implementing capacity building programs and advocating for grantmaking attention to constituent involvement.